‘The ban on new psychoactive substances, including the “zombie drug”, spice, has served to drive the trade underground as more potent and unpredictable strains enter the market, pushed by street dealers.’

‘A Christian magistrate who lost his job and then his role as an NHS director for speaking out against adoption by same-sex parents will this week sue NHS bosses claiming political correctness can prevent Christians holding public posts.’

‘An optometrist who failed to spot symptoms of a life-threatening brain condition during a routine eye test of an eight-year-old boy who later died has won an appeal against her conviction for gross negligence manslaughter.’

‘Blood donation restrictions for gay men and sex workers are to be relaxed in England and Scotland under a series of equalities reforms announced by the government. Gay men will be allowed to donate blood three months after sexual intercourse instead of a year. Sex workers, who were previously banned from donating, will be subject to the same three-month rule.’

‘London’s Royal Free hospital failed to comply with the Data Protection Act when it handed over personal data of 1.6 million patients to DeepMind, a Google subsidiary, according to the Information Commissioner’s Office.’

‘A review of how NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) handled a huge backlog of unprocessed clinical correspondence has found 1,788 cases of potential harm to patients, the National Audit Office has said.’

‘Jeremy Hunt has been accused of leaving Parliament and patients in the dark after hundreds of thousands of pieces of confidential medical correspondence was discovered “languishing in a warehouse”. At least 1,700 patients may have been harmed by the major blunder, according to a new report into the incident from the National Audit Office (NAO).’

‘Patients taking out private health insurance expect to get the best treatment, but what happens if things go wrong? While the NHS has paid out millions to the patients of disgraced breast surgeon Ian Paterson, his private patients are still seeking compensation. Why?’

‘Was it unlawful for the Secretary of State for Health, who had power to make provisions for the functioning of the National Health Service in England, to have failed to make a provision which would have enabled women who were citizens of the UK, but who were usually resident in Northern Ireland, to undergo a termination of pregnancy under the NHS in England free of charge?’

‘The supreme court has ruled that women from Northern Ireland are not entitled to free access to abortions on the NHS, a decision that was condemned by campaigners as a “further blow to women” from the region.’

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